


(Un)guarded

by sleepismyfriend



Category: Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005), Sarah Jane Adventures
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-04-19
Updated: 2015-11-22
Packaged: 2017-12-08 23:22:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/767290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleepismyfriend/pseuds/sleepismyfriend
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Peter Dalton and the Trickster, Sarah's heart isn't as protected as it used to be. Unfortunately, at this stage of the game, neither is the Doctor's.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (Un)guarded is a continuation of events that happened canonically in the Wedding of Sarah Jane Smith and non-canonically in [Dallas](http://http://archiveofourown.org/users/dallas)'s [Those Left Behind](http://self-preserving.livejournal.com/38157.html). Go on, you know you want to read that first as a prologue and come back. She's magnificent.

Sunlight filtered in through the pale green curtains of Sarah's bedroom, as the Doctor’s eyes fluttered open to see Sarah’s face still sleeping across from his. Her tears and grief about losing Peter had consumed most of the night, but he remained resolute that he had to stay, and support her in whatever capacity she allowed. 

So far, capacity had allowed more physical intimacy than he had first considered. His right arm served as a pillow under Sarah's head, as his fingers traced a path down her right temple and behind her ear. When she didn't tense or pull away, he exhaled, and closed his eyes.

A few more minutes in blissful ignorance and closeness wouldn't hurt.

At some point in the night, he had shed his extra clothing, and rolled up his sleeves. His crimson tie and blue jacket lay in Sarah’s oversized corner chair while his red trainers remained on the floor next to the bed. His body was on top of the duvet while hers curled underneath, but that was a minor technicality. Her body temperature had always been different than his anyway, he told himself.

Her right arm was slung across his waist, having remained a comfortable tight while his left hand tapped a soft rhythm into the curve of her hip. He caught himself doing it the better of three times before he made a conscious effort to stop. Her heart was beating much softer now than before, and the Doctor smiled.

She wouldn’t have slept if he hadn’t come in, that much he knew from past experiences aboard the TARDIS. Sarah hardly ever slept when she was upset about something, and that’s when he or Harry found her in the TARDIS library with her nose in a book. Generally, one of them could coax her to bed after they pried the book from her hands. On the rare occasion that that didn’t work, one or both of them would carry her off to her room. 

However, last night when her tears had begun to subside for the third time, the Doctor's lips lingered against her forehead. He whispered that he wouldn’t let go, and that’s when her trembling form begin to relax enough to sleep. They hadn't shifted sleeping positions many times over the past several hours, but when one moved, the other had followed.

The thought of Sarah sleeping next to Peter was a reoccurring one, and the Doctor banished it before it had a chance to grow. He knew it was selfish of him, expecting things to be a certain way when the reality was far from the truth. He had essentially "crashed" her wedding, and she had lost Peter.

"Mmm." Sarah's body shifted, taking his left arm with her. A small smile crossed his lips, as their threaded fingers curved around Sarah's stomach.

His eyes unusually heavy, the Doctor knew what time it was, though he didn’t care. Right now, his greatest concern slept in his arms. He was more than happy to remain undisturbed until necessary.

\--

His brown hair rumpled from sleep, Luke's bare feet shuffled down the hallway towards Sarah’s bedroom. The Trickster had played games before, and so far, they had always defeated him. However, it was because of times like this, the morning, the evening, even the weeks after tragedy occurred that Luke knew his mum didn't do relationships.

As he rubbed the heaviness from his eyes, Luke thought back to the days after being rescued from Mrs Wormwood and the Bane. Sarah wasn't cold per se, but remained hesitant towards him and Maria’s enthusiasm whenever Mr Smith alerted them to the occasional alien disturbance. It wasn't until the addition and acceptance of Clyde that they became a real team, and the alerts became that much more frequent.

It was after the mess with the Sontarans that Maria broke the news that Alan had been offered an immediate promotion in America. She moved, and Rani appeared, filling the Maria-shaped gap in Sarah's life. Rani had an easier time than Maria though, thanks to Luke and Clyde. None of them would probably ever get Sarah one hundred per cent right, but as they had bended to Sarah, Sarah had turned and bended to them. 

Luke cracked the door open, hoping his mum had slept more than he thought she had, when his eyes widened at the sight before him. He recognized the Doctor’s tall lanky form, though he wasn’t sure why he lay on Sarah’s bed, wrapped around Sarah with his eyes closed. 

He knew there had to be a reasonable explanation, and chalked it up to being one of those things about his mum and the Doctor he didn’t understand. Luke then closed the door, and turned away. Talking to his mum could wait.

\--

At the sound of the door closing, the Doctor opened his eyes. Luke was a capable intelligent being, who seemed to have a greater understanding of relationships than the Doctor had when he was Luke's age. However, the woman in his arms might not be as understanding, as he felt her sigh, and knew her eyes had opened.

“You should sleep a bit longer,” the Doctor said. He hadn’t coddled Sarah many times, if ever, but things felt different this time. Different being that he wouldn’t have done this before in any of his other incarnations, and yet he wanted to now.

He felt her body tense, to the point at which he wondered if he should pull away. It wasn’t until a split second later when he felt her relax that he realized pulling away was the last thing she wanted.

“This isn’t a dream, is it?” Sarah asked, nuzzling her face against her pillow, as the scent of TARDIS and Earth both overwhelmed and calmed the slight moisture in her eyes. She had dreamt of this moment too many times before to wake up alone. “Peter, the Trickster, all of this.”

“I’m afraid not,” the Doctor said, sighing.

Sarah knew the relative laws of time and space enough to know that he couldn’t change what happened yesterday. Crossing over one’s personal timeline was enough of a jinx in itself, to say nothing about Peter’s death being a fixed point in the timey-wimey wibbly wobbly scheme the Doctor prattled on about.

Sarah turned over, facing the Doctor, and her forehead met the Doctor’s lips, as they resettled their perspective positions. The Doctor kept his arms in place. He never realized how much he liked holding someone as special to him as Sarah.

“I don’t understand.” Sarah settled her head under the Doctor’s chin, closing her eyes, as she awaited the answer she wasn't sure she wanted to hear.

“The TARDIS brought me here, Sarah.” The Doctor caressed up and down Sarah’s upper half, and Sarah tried her hardest not to let the tears in her eyes fall. “She always takes me precisely where I need to be, whether I like it or not. You’re not angry with her, are you?”

“No.”

“Good. Because there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than right here, right now with you,” he whispered. A spare tear trickled down one cheek, and the Doctor wiped it away. Then, a brief silence before the sound of the doorbell chiming through the house alerted them that they were no longer in their bubble of peace and quiet.

Other forces were about to intervene.

\--

"Hello Luke." Dr Elizabeth Lethbridge-Stewart, known best as Liz and Dr Shaw, stood on the doorstep. Her eyes looked a tad more tired than usual, but travelling across three continents in forty-eight hours had a tendency to do that to a person. She smiled. "May I come in?"

"Please," Luke said, taking a step back. "Mum told me about the Brigadier. Is he alright? I didn't think you both were back in England." 

"We arrived this morning. Alistair is at home, resting," Liz said, as Luke closed the door behind her. "What about you? How was the wedding? Have Sarah Jane and Peter left yet? It's almost ten, and I was hoping to meet him."

Luke scratched the back of his head. "I should probably let Mum explain. It's rather complicated."

"Oh?" Liz’s smile dropped. "Where is your mother? Is she all right?"

"She’s fine. She's upstairs. Sleeping," he said, failing to mention what he had seen upstairs. Luckily, he didn’t have to elaborate much more, as the Doctor and Sarah came down the stairs. She had dressed, in her usual jeans, white shirt, and vest, while he had slipped on his jacket and trainers. 

"Hello Liz. How was New York?" Sarah tried to smile, but knew no matter how wide her smile appeared, it wasn't genuine. She stopped on the bottom stair, her hand lingering on the rail, as the Doctor remained behind her.

"New York was not an experience I wish to repeat any time soon," Liz said, noticing the extra paleness of Sarah's face, and the dark circles under her hazel eyes. What had she missed? "Though Kate wanted me to tell you she sends her best, and she'll try and drop in the next few days. She's being unnecessarily overprotective of her father."

"It's been awhile since Kate and I have had a proper catch up. It'll be nice to see her," Sarah said, nodding. Liz's eyes went to the younger looking Time Lord standing behind Sarah. He was not the Peter Dalton she would have imagined, but something told her this was not the man Sarah gushed on video chat to Alistair about marrying. 

Liz's eyes met the Doctor's, and a battle of silent wills was exchanged. She raised an eyebrow, as the Doctor touched Sarah's shoulders in defence.

"I don't believe we've met. Perhaps, an introduction would be best?"

Sarah looked over her shoulder, as the Doctor's shared gaze with Liz changed to a lopsided smirk. He looked at Sarah, reassuring her with his thumbs rubbing into the curve of her shoulders before he moved past her.

The Doctor waited until he was facing his former companion before he spoke.

"I once met this brilliant scientist from Cambridge, who felt her job was doing nothing more than handing me test tubes and chastising my imagination," the Doctor said, shoving his hands in his pockets. "You can imagine how I felt about that."

At first, there was confusion, but then Liz's expression changed. Her smile returned, growing brighter than before, as she looked to Sarah. Sarah nodded, and crossed her arms.

"And if I hadn't, you would have flown off in that silly little broken blue box of yours without so much as one iota of thought to any consequences," Liz replied, trying to keep her smile under control. "I saved your hide from the Brigadier more times than you will ever want to know."

"Fair enough," the Doctor said, smiling. He then stepped forward, wrapping his arms around Liz, as her head fit snug under her chin. His voice lowered, in that special genuine whisper Sarah had heard this Doctor use only a few times before. "Hello Liz."

With moisture in her eyes, Liz exhaled.

"Hello Doctor," she replied. 

At the sight of them, Sarah's heart skipped. She never seemed to know what the Doctor’s response would be in a given situation, but this one was definitely one to remember. The Doctor then stepped back, dropping his arms.

"Imagine that—A Time Lord who genuinely hugs," Liz said. "Are you sure you're the same alien I once knew?"

"Call him the updated model," Sarah said. "After all these years, us lowly humans have finally rubbed off."

The Doctor shot Sarah a look, and Sarah grinned. Their eyes said more than their smiles, and there was a distinct difference in smiles compared to Sarah’s earlier one. 

"I must admit, you're really making things unfair, Doctor," Liz said, still looking between him and Sarah. "You look ridiculously young this go round."

"Can’t be helped, I’m afraid," the Doctor replied, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand. "Old age continues to creep up on me whether I like it or not."

"Yes, and if you're here lingering around, that means something has happened. I'd like to know what it is. Sarah Jane, dear, you look as though you’ve been thrown under the bus, and where is your new husband? I thought—" 

The Doctor saw Sarah’s face fall, the pain forming in her brain before the tears hit her eyes. He went over to her, putting an arm across her shoulders, and she leaned against him.

"You're right, Liz, we should probably explain," the Doctor said. Sarah moved towards the kitchen on her own, as the Doctor followed behind. 

Liz turned to Luke. "You weren’t kidding, were you?"

"Unfortunately, no," Luke said, and both waited before following the Doctor and Sarah.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sarah, the Doctor and Liz exchange stories about weddings.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic assumes the events of the PROSE: Eternity Weeps novel happened to Liz. However, unlike the novel, she did not die. A fact I remedied years ago in a side story called [Somewhere in the Cosmos](http://archiveofourown.org/works/104515).

As Liz entered the kitchen, the first thing she saw was the Doctor, leaning against Sarah's kitchen sink with his ankles crossed. He kept his eyes on Sarah and Sarah alone, as she set the kettle on the stovetop.

As the Doctor's head shifted, Liz caught his gaze. She raised one eyebrow, and the Doctor straightened, following her towards the kitchen table. The table was small, but adequate enough for four people. Liz sat to Luke's right, while the Doctor took his left.

"Invasion, smuggler, or hostile manoeuvre?"

"Pardon?" The Doctor asked.

"I hardly think Sarah Jane is one to be simply jilted at the altar by an average fellow. After all, you wouldn't be here if it was anything else—So, who or what was it this time? Liz asked. The Doctor sighed, and at his silence, Liz's gaze shifted. She crossed her hands together on the table. "Luke, when was the last time she ate?"

"We all tried to get her to eat before the ceremony yesterday, but you know Mum."

"Quite well," she said.

The doorbell rang, the kettle in Sarah's hands dropping to the floor, as her head turned. The Doctor was quick, jumping out of his chair to assist.

"I'll get the door," Luke said.

"Good lad," Liz said, watching as the Doctor kicked the kettle to the side. His voice was soft, as he spoke.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his hands holding both of her arms, as she nodded. He looked to Liz, who picked the kettle from the floor.

"Why don't I help you get this cleaned up, and we'll fix some more tea, hmm? And, Doctor, would you go see about Luke? I think I heard more than the usual knock."

"Right," the Doctor said. He exited the kitchen only to find Luke standing in front of the doorway, a large bouquet of pink and yellow blooms in his hands. He was talking, in a sincere apologetic way that the Doctor almost wished he could recreate.

"Well, who do we have here?" The Doctor stepped next to Luke, cautious of the flowers.

"You didn't tell me you had company, Luke," Gita said, giving him a thorough once over. She offered her hand out with a smile. "Gita Chandra. Neighbour and florist."

"John Smith." The Doctor's grip was normal enough, as he then shoved his hands into his pockets. "Company and friend of Sarah's."

"Wasn't it just awful what happened yesterday? I thought I smelled something amok with those funny flower selections of hers. A florist can always tell when something isn't meant to be." Gita tapped her nose.

"Indeed," the Doctor said, with a smirk. He examined the ornate bouquet. "We'll make sure we take extra care of this beauty, won't we, Luke?"

"Yeah." Luke's smirk matched the Doctor's.

"Is our Sarah alright, John?" Gita's voice lowered. "This wedding was a surprise. She doesn't have many friends, and certainly not any blokes."

"Our Sarah will be fine," the Doctor said, with a genuine comforting smile. "Trust me."

"Gita Chandra." Liz's voice carried through the hallway, its tone slightly edgy "How lovely of you to stop by."

"All in the spirit of being neighbourly, Dr Stewart," Gita replied, squaring her shoulders with a fake smile. "I thought I might cheer Sarah up a bit, because who doesn't love a good bouquet when you're down? Weddings, schmeddings, you can always trust your friendly neighbourhood florist for a cheer up anytime."

"That certainly is neighbourly," Liz said, exhaling half a sigh. "I'll be sure to tell her you stopped by."

"Alright then," Gita said, leaning towards Luke. "Keep Rani informed yeah? She's been a bit worried."

"Sure thing," Luke said. "Thank you for the flowers."

"You're welcome, my darling, anytime," Gita said, touching Luke's cheek before turning. "It was nice to meet you, John."

"The pleasure was mine," the Doctor said. Gita turned, and left. He watched as Liz sighed. "Do you have a thing against our friendly neighbourhood florist?"

Liz gave him a good hard glare before turning to follow Luke.

"Oh Luke, those are lovely," Sarah said, touching the blooms with gentle reverence. "Did you thank Gita for me?"

Luke nodded. "She wanted to know how you were feeling. Where would you like them?"

"The counter please," Sarah said, before turning towards the table where a tray of mugs and the kettle sat. They all sat, taking their respective positions from before.

"So, Mrs Brigadier, where were we?" The Doctor leaned forward on one elbow, as Sarah poured him a mug of tea. "What, think I can't keep up?"

"No, I'm not sure I like that moniker," Liz said, pouring her own tea. 

"It's a work in progress," the Doctor said. "Sir Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart married Dr Elizabeth Shaw January 14, 2004. A nice quiet village like Reine with the snow capped mountains and crystal blue as far as the eye can see. Rather beautiful if I do say so myself."

Liz's expression softened. 

"I don't recall seeing the TARDIS in Norway," Liz said. "I'm sure I would recognize her anywhere."

"That is the beauty of passing through," the Doctor said, his lopsided grin appearing. "The UNIT jeep in front of the church was a dead give away."

"I wasn't going to marry him."

"I know," the Doctor said, his voice deepening. "But you did."

"I had spent most of the year before in UNIT's top medical facilities as doctors tried antidote after antidote." Liz traced the rim of her teacup. She stared at it before looking towards the Doctor. "Alistair showed up one day, and never left. Even when I screamed at him, and told him to leave, he wouldn’t go. Stubborn man."

The Doctor looked over to Sarah. "The day I got the antidote, he disappeared for a while. When he came back, he handed me a cup of tea. I didn’t have the strength to breathe, and he made me drink the stuff in almost one gulp. He never told me where he got it either. You helped them, didn’t you? You helped those doctors find a cure for Agent Yellow when there wasn’t one. After all this time, you can’t tell me I’m wrong," 

Liz’s features were stern, as she studied the Time Lord she knew had saved her life. The Doctor in turn, was staring back at her, unwilling to give her an answer.

Sarah had shown up that day, wanting to know about Liz’s condition. Alistair was more than happy to see her, but was elusive and vague. From the look on the Doctor’s face, Sarah knew why. She wondered which one of him had appeared, and made a note to ask him later.

"Slowly, I got better and stronger and Alistair didn’t leave. About the time I was to be released from the hospital, he got a phone call about an operative in the south of Mexico. They didn’t think there was a better man for the job, and suddenly, there was the very real possibility that everything we had would be gone." 

"What did you do?" Sarah asked. 

"I did what any fool woman does when she’s in love, Sarah Jane. I went with him, knowing all the consequences, and forsaking them anyway. I remembered all the times you went out into the universe with nothing more than your TARDIS and your good looks, Doctor. Although, I must say, you certainly can compensate for that now."

Upon seeing Liz’s smile, the Doctor’s tone once again changed. 

"The Brigadier’s a good soldier, but an even better man." The Doctor leaned forward.

"Indeed," Liz sighed, thinking of her husband. "That first couple of months, we must have travelled halfway around the world, and I knew I didn’t want to be without him. We were in Norway when he asked me to marry him. If I had known you were there, Doctor, you could have stood up for Alistair."

"I would have stood up for both of you," the Doctor grinned. "I'm not sure that the justice of the peace would accept a Gallifreyan witness, but there’s nothing like two old friends getting hitched to start off the New Year."

"Time’s funny like that, isn’t it? It sorts things out when you least expect it. I found the one person I wanted to spend the rest of this life with, even if I argue with him the rest of the way."

The Doctor watched Sarah’s face fall, as her thoughts once again turned to Peter. Knowing that the story was about to be told, Luke exited the room.

"Tell me what happened yesterday, please," Liz said, her voice softening, as the Doctor nodded. Sarah took a long hard breath before beginning her story.

"There is a being known as the Trickster." Sarah began, staring at one spot in the table as the Doctor reached for her hands. He didn’t know if his touch was helping, but figured that it couldn’t hurt. All of his other comfort tactics had seemingly worked well today. "He's an extra-dimensional entity, who thrives on chaos, even at the most minute levels. I’ve fought him before—"

"He tried to switch Sarah’s life with someone else’s the first time. A friend of Sarah's who had died," the Doctor added, shooting a look to Liz. "When that didn’t work, he tried to use Sarah’s parents, knowing that Sarah would help them. Then along came Peter—"

"Peter had suffered an accident." Both of Sarah’s hands now gripped the Doctor’s, and Liz noticed that the Doctor’s chair was turned towards her. "The Trickster offered him a way to live. Fall in love with me, make me say I do."

"My God," Liz said. "Sarah Jane, I am so sorry."

"When things didn’t go according to plan, he trapped all of us in this weird time bubble." Sarah sniffed, feeling the tears about to come, and holding them off as long as she could. "Luckily, my teenagers are smart, and figured out how to defeat him with the Doctor's help."

The Doctor inched his chair closer to Sarah, putting her arms around her as she leaned into him. Feeling her soft cries, he leaned his head on top of hers. There was a moment of silence as the Doctor ‘shushed’ Sarah’s cries away as best as he could.

"The Trickster wanted to make Sarah forget everything about defending the Earth, leaving the Earth open to his chaos," the Doctor said. "Peter gave his life to save us, essentially breaking the deal that he had made."

Liz felt her own heart breaking, thinking of her behaviour that very morning, as she told Alistair that she didn’t need to worry about Sarah when in fact it was moments like this that she knew why Alistair fussed so. 

Sarah managed to pull away from the Doctor’s grip, and the Doctor allowed her such a gesture, but never completely let go of her. Seeing the box of tissues on the counter, he reached for them, as he touched her shoulder. He handed her one before sitting back down, keeping his proximity close.

"I never seem to get it right, you know." Sarah sniffled into the tissue, wiping at her nose and tears. "I mean, it’s not like I’ve always been alone every single moment of my life. It’s just—I thought I had finally found the one person to complete it, and he wasn’t even real."

The Doctor took Sarah’s words to heart, and looked away, and Liz noticed for more than a moment at the expression that he was giving. Hurt, powerless, defenceless, etc. She had only seen the look cross the Doctor’s face once prior, and she wasn’t sure she remembered it that well. 

"Peter was as real as you needed him to be." The Doctor took her hands again. "Or else, he wouldn’t have sacrificed everything for you. You have to know that." 

"The Doctor’s right," Liz smiled a gentle smile, seeing Sarah's pain and anguish. "Don’t look at me like that, I can admit when you’re right, Doctor."

"Right, well, right now what is most important is that you realize how important you are to the Earth, Sarah." The Doctor looked into her eyes, wanting her to see the truth in his own. "I’ve seen what and your younglings do from your attic. Now, imagine the Earth without that kind of protection. I mean, you fight the good fight, all of you."

"Mum?" Luke popped his head inside the kitchen, and all three adults turned their heads towards the sound of his voice. "Mum, Mr Smith needs us. Something’s wrong."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor saves the Earth, with the help of Liz and Luke.

"And now the citizens of the Earth are asked to stay in their homes as the tiny bulbs of unknown light approach Earth’s orbit. In coordination with UNIT, the United States has prepared a fully armed satellite that is scheduled for launch." Trinity Wells’s reporting filled Sarah’s attic as Sarah, the Doctor, Liz, and Luke stood in front of the giant supercomputer.

"Right, because that will be loads of help—Mr Smith, can you give us any more information?" The Doctor stood ahead of the other three with his arms crossed.

"Of course, Doctor. Processing now." Mr Smith’s screen went through a number of changes. Half of the screen presented a sphere of black, with a golden glow around its edges. The language on the other side of the screen was something that the Doctor examined.

"Doctor?" Sarah spoke next.

"Ancient syllabic language. Thousands of years old. The golden glow is energy. I’m just not sure why it’s heading towards the Earth. Unless—" The Doctor drew out his words, as he tried to put the pieces together. He knew one thing, and one thing alone. "It doesn’t need to be here."

"I’ve called Rani and Clyde, Mum," Luke said, standing next to Sarah with his arms crossed. "They’re all going to stay indoors and wait for further instructions. We do have a plan, don’t we?"

"We won't know what we’ve got till it gets here, Lukey-boy." The Doctor began turning various knobs and dials on the main computer panel. "Might I add what a wonderful piece of technology you have built, Sarah?"

"Mr Smith couldn’t possibly compare to the TARDIS, Doctor." Sarah tried to smile, putting her arm around Luke. She wanted better reassurances, both for herself and for Luke. However, she wasn’t sure what the situation called for. "Though we try our best."

"Wait, don’t you think you ought to add a seven in place of the eight?" Liz moved to the right of the Doctor, having watched his computations. She pointed towards the lower part of the screen. "Right there, Doctor. That should be a seven, or else you’re going to throw off these lines down here."

"Keeping up on your physics, Mrs Brigadier? I knew you weren’t one to settle down. Blimey, I'm getting old," the Doctor grinned, as Liz stepped forward to help him work out several strains of math that Sarah didn’t recognize.

"I can do the math as well. Tell me where I can help," Luke said next, moving towards the Doctor's left.

Standing back, Sarah smiled at the picture in front of her, as three of her favourite people in the world worked together to solve a common problem. She almost wished Maria were with her. She knew her friend would appreciate the picture as much as Sarah was.

"Do we know what we're dealing with yet?" Sarah asked.

"Not exactly, but we’re about to find out. Luke, hold down that lever. Liz, enter three threes and a four. We're extending full power." The Doctor pulled a different lever, and the room around them began to shake with increasing intensity. After one particular tremor, they were thrown to the floor. The Doctor crawled towards Sarah, shielding her body under his for cover.

Sarah held onto him, trusting that everything would be okay. Objects fell to the floor around them as sparks flew from Mr Smith, and she knew that whatever he had done was necessary. A sharp object then collided with the corner of her forehead, leaving Sarah with nothing but darkness.

\--

The dust cleared and the tremors tapered off before the Doctor thought about moving. When he finally did, he pushed away the objects on and around them to get to Sarah. That was when he noticed the blood, and held his palm to her forehead, trying his best not to panic. Sometimes, head wounds bled much more than the actual damage.

"Is everyone okay? Luke? Liz?" He shouted towards Liz and Luke, who had managed to land across the room. Luke disentangled himself from the debris, offering whatever support he could to help Liz up off the floor. However, once she was standing, Liz waved him off. 

"Are you all right?" Luke asked.

"Yes, yes, a little battered and bruised, but none too worse for the wear. Doctor, are you all right?" Liz shouted out back across the room towards the Doctor’s voice. "What about Sarah Jane?"

There wasn’t an answer, and Liz looked around the room to notice the destruction and chaos that had emanated from the Doctor’s tinkering with Mr Smith. She saw the Doctor huddled over Sarah, speaking in soft tones. Liz couldn’t make out what he was saying, but she knew it couldn’t be good.

"Luke, go downstairs and call 999. Have them send an ambulance." Liz instructed, and Luke nodded, looking over once towards Sarah with concern, as he followed Liz’s instructions. Liz saw the Doctor shift his arms under Sarah to lift her, and as he turned to move towards the half-covered sofa, Liz noticed the blood. 

She moved ahead of him, clearing the sofa with as much speed as she could.

"I might have a stethoscope in the car," Liz said, as the Doctor laid Sarah down, and took a seat as close to her as possible. The Doctor laid his head to Sarah’s chest to check for a heartbeat for only a second before sitting back up.

"You’ve got about three minutes before Torchwood shows up. Another thirty seconds after that, your husband and/or stepdaughter will bust down the walls of Sarah Jane’s garden with their tanks. The TARDIS is back there, and I want it to remain in one piece. I need you to go coordinate that effort until the ambulance gets here." The Doctor was shaken, but still in control of the situation.

"What did you do, Doctor?"

"Those bulbs of light needed a pit stop, and I gave them one. They’ll be gone soon enough. Tell Captain Jack that he is not to harm nor capture a single one of those bulbs. Same goes for Alistair and Kate. I can’t have that kind of energy on Earth, do you understand that?" It was then that Liz saw the wisdom of the grey Doctor that she knew flowing through his current face, and nodded, heading towards the door. The Doctor watched her leave before turning his attention to Sarah.

He touched her brow, noting the rather nice gash on her forehead. If only he had known that causing this particular life form to land would do this to her, to say nothing about her attic. He looked around the room once, noting the fact that the area around the looked like the epicentre of an earthquake.

The Doctor scanned the room to try and find something to tend to Sarah’s head with. Noticing the fact that she had a small hand towel sitting on her workbench, he reached over, and grabbed it before holding it to Sarah’s head. 

He held his head down to her chest once more, he listened once more for a heartbeat. He knew Peter Dalton and the Trickster had emotionally broken Sarah’s heart, and he was hoping he hadn’t physically broken it any further. He heard a rather weak beat, and wished the ambulance would arrive. Instead, he leaned back up to watch her, dabbing at her forehead.

"Open your eyes for me, Sarah," he said. 

"Mmm?" Sarah made a noise before narrowly opening her eyes. The corners of her lips turned to a frown, as the pain registered itself. 

"Can you hear me?" The Doctor swallowed the large lump in his throat. Of all their adventures, he didn’t want to think that something would actually happen to Sarah on Earth, the one place he thought she was fairly well protected.

"Mmhmm." Sarah touched the side of his face, and the Doctor leaned into her touch.

"Hello, Sarah Jane," the Doctor smiled, his voice soft with a gentle smile. "You gave me a bit of a scare there."

"Right, sorry." Sarah tried to touch her forehead, but he wouldn’t let her, instead, holding her hands in his own. Sarah noticed the small scratches and cuts on his face, and closed her eyes. "Sleepy."

"I need you to stay awake. Stay awake for me now, and then I’ll let you go to sleep as much as you like, all right?"

"Mmm, I will always stay," Sarah whispered, as her eyes closed.

The sound of the paramedics hustling up the stairs with the gurney made the Doctor stand and take a step back. Liz had followed them, and was giving orders as well as taking Sarah’s pulse, among other things. The Doctor stood back and watched, scratching his head and not knowing what else to do. Liz stayed focused, and they had Sarah out and down the stairs attached to the gurney before he could even blink. 

The Doctor turned to face the giant supercomputer, only to find it sizzling and black in front of him. He gripped the top of his hair, knowing that Sarah was going to have more than a word about the state of her supercomputer. 

"You blew the main supply, didn’t you?" Luke had come upstairs, and stood next to the Doctor. The Doctor took one look at the young man, knowing that he had wisdom beyond his years, and answered.

"Yeah, well, I used the power from the rift in Cardiff combined with set of algorithms designed to send a pulse around Earth’s orbit. Certainly made for a show, didn’t it?" He shoved his hands in his pockets, trying to keep himself from running down the stairs after Sarah. 

"Mum's going to be furious."

"Well, we’ll have to fix it before she gets back, now won’t we? I’m sure Mr Smith’s alive in there somewhere." The Doctor tried to smile to appease the dread in his stomach at facing Sarah’s wrath. "What am I missing downstairs?"

"There’s people in the yard, poking about, and UNIT has the block cordoned off except for residents." Luke scratched his own head, in a nervous tick much like the Doctor. "Doctor, I think you need to go sort things out a bit. Before Dr Stewart and Captain Jack duel in the garden."

"Alright. First, we go straighten out UNIT, and then we see to your mum, and then Mr Smith. You didn’t think I’d filch on cleaning duty, did you?" He put his arm around Luke much like he had seen Sarah do before, and they both walked out of the attic.

**Author's Note:**

> If you've read (Un)guarded before, you'll notice it isn't the same story. Time and space tends to broaden the mind (and help with comma usage, really.) My apologies.


End file.
